Revenge for Dad
by MSCIBET
Summary: Futurefic fluffy piece about Chloe and Lex's child and the first day of school.  Complete.


_A/N - Some Chlex fluff before school starts; also posted on N-S_; r/r of course!

Title: Revenge for my Dad

Author: mscibet

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or the show, just my own ideas and for me that's enough

Rating: G

Synopsis: Almost too short for one. Futurefic. Lex and Chloe are married and have a child. Parenting ensues.

Lex and Chloe watched down the hall of the Oxford Prep Academy as Lindsay Luthor walked away. Chloe and Lex had fought almost daily about the school situation from Lindsay's birth. There were few things that Lex would give into and his child's education was one. Gripping her waist, he silently prayed everything would be ok.

"_Lex, I'm not sending my six year old daughter half way across the globe just because it's the best." Chloe paced the office, rubbing her hands through her hair._

_Lex sat at his desk typing away at that dumb laptop that Chloe was about to chuck across the floor. She walked over and shut the lid just before he removed his fingers. Looking up he smirked in her direction and rolled his eyes. "Then what pray tell does my wife want? I want her to be comfortable in her environment and sending her to public school is not an option."_

"_Why not? I went to public school. It's like you are suddenly saying I'm not good enough for you." She walked away as Lex wrapped his arms around her. He felt her stiffen up at his grip and knew he wasn't going to win this._

_In the right world, they would have been on a list from the beginning but the fighting over her proper place had caused the rift to grow as she neared grade school age. They had amicably decided on a private nanny and tutor for her until she was first grade and then the school decision would loom. _

"_Chloe, honey, I wasn't putting down you or your education. She's just going to be different. We live in a mansion, we are billionaires – she won't fit in. They won't have the advancement necessary for her gifts and she'll get bored. She has a combination of the two greatest minds in the state of Kansas – you can't dumb her down." Lex turned Chloe around and pressed his lips to his. _

"_What about a compromise? I'm willing to forgo the public school if you are willing to give up the overseas trip. Something private and something in the state." Chloe pulled away from him and put her hands on her hips. _

_Lex nodded his head in amazement. Even at 32 she was still just as pretty and dangerous as the day he met her. He had been very lucky and not screwed this relationship up from the beginning. They had stayed somewhat friends through high school, and she came around to see him, actually his book collection, in college. Things just grew out of it. No one liked the relationship, and Chloe cut a lot of ties that didn't agree. Yet, after eight years of marriage and a six year old, slowly trust formed again, and there was finally a calm happiness in the Luthor household among suspect eyes in Smallville. The place she demanded they stay._

_Walking away, he raised his arms in defeat, "You have any ideas?"_

So, that is where Lex left it. He could fight tooth and nail with the big boys of business but crumbled under the devilish softness of his wife's bite when she spoke. He was somewhat pleased though.

He smiled as Lindsay waved back one more time before rounding the corner into the door of her classroom. Both Lex and Chloe had done research to the point of exhaustion to find the perfect place and were pleased.

"She's going to be ok," Lex said to himself as he slid his hand into Chloe's. Walking toward the car, he eyed the people in the office gawking at their most important set of parents. He was paying an immense amount more money to ensure Lindsay's further rigorous education instead of just sticking her in a first grade class. He expected results and the staff knew it. He had even called a parent meeting before the year began, going over everything that had already been covered and where she was at and what he expected.

Chloe sat in on the meeting and let him run it. She felt it was only fair that she picked the place, he ran the show. It was their money, but truly it was his. And he had every right to expect the best for their daughter. He was harsh with the staff, like at the office, but Chloe didn't mind. When they left the meeting earlier in the week, she knew there would be nothing to worry about. "She's going to be fine. Now do you want Jane to pick her up or come and get her yourself."

Lex started the car parked in the very front of the building. He could easily own it, so he basically parked where he wanted. "I want to come get her. If she has any stories to tell, I want to be able to get back out here before they leave." Chloe grabbed his arm and smirked silently at his worry.

Lex sat in a large office that he had procured when one of the massive records rooms at the Smallville plant had been cleaned out. The mansion was now their home, and according to Chloe, not a place of business. She had, for his birthday, had extra plant hands clean out the large room and brought in decorators. Taking some of the things from the basement, she managed something that Lex didn't mind on a daily basis.

She was two hours away in Metropolis, working her way up the ladder to vie for positions that now Lois and Clark held. She was careful in separating business and pleasure but occasionally Lex would feed her something that made her look good. He wasn't going to buy her job, just give her a nudge.

Work was mundane that day, or Lex couldn't concentrate. For the first time in his life, he had pictures that adorned his desk instead of expensive knick knacks. Wedding pictures and Lindsay right after her birth gave him a reason to smile during his long work weeks.

"Sir, you have a call on line 1. It's the school." Lex jumped out of his fog and picked up the phone.

"Luthor."

"Mr. Luthor, we have an issue here at school if you wouldn't mind coming up here." Lex gripped the phone so hard he could feel the slight crack in the handle.

"What's this about? Is Lindsay alright?" They better answer me, he thought. I knew something like this would happen.

"Sir, she is going to be fine, but we need to discuss something with you." Is going to be hung in his ears and he bit his lip until it almost bled.

"I'm on my way." He grabbed his coat and started out the door. "Cancel any meetings today – I have a situation to take care of. Get in touch with Chloe and tell her to get back to the school as quickly as possible. Call the Luthorcorp office in Metropolis and tell them to prepare for Chloe's arrival at the office. Make sure the car knows to take her directly to the school." He watched as Megan took hurried notes and watched him storm out of the office.

Lex drove faster than he had since Chloe was in high school. Ideas and thoughts ran through his head. She could be hurt, she could be missing them, she could hate her teachers. Between he and Chloe, there was enough family instability and mental issues to cause a breakdown. He imagined having to put Lindsay through therapy and doctors. He had told himself when she was born that he would not subject her to the lifestyle he grew up with.

Yes, he had hired the best nanny and private tutor when she started talking. Chloe spent most of the first year with her and was partially worried that she would be replaced. But Lex assured her nothing of the sort would occur. He gently pushed Chloe back into part time and then full time, promising that both would be home for dinners and evenings alone with Lindsay and any other children.

He had made sacrifices, actually selling off some corporations to make room in his schedule. Flying to Taiwan and India were too far; things had to be delegated. Chloe found she missed her dad, but Lex had sent him to London. She now smiled every time he talked about meeting the guys at the pub and how he now loved merry old England. He wasn't near her but at least he was happy.

The towncar Chloe rode in sped down the small freeway to the outskirts of Metropolis. The school was located in a upper middle class suburb between Metropolis and Smallville. Initially Chloe had been excited that Lindsay would be near enough to her that the nanny could pick her up and bring her back to the mansion or that a car could pick her up and bring her to the Daily Planet. The hour drive wasn't convenient but better than overseas flight. The only one who would have seen her then was Gabe.

Chloe pulled up in the parking lot of the school just before Lex and got out of the car. "What's wrong? She didn't tell me anything."

"You're not the only one." Lex placed his hand on the lower part of her back and led her into the building. Chloe looked up at him. He had only looked that way around her one time and that was the first day of his father's court hearing. She slowed his pace down before they got in the building.

"Lex, you have got to calm down. You go in there like this and Lindsay sees you, you're going to affect her in a way I don't think you're going to want to." Chloe grabbed his arm and waited as he took some deep breaths. She had talked him into some counseling for the both of them before they got married and was glad that he sometimes still used some of the lame coping mechanisms.

Pulling the door open more calmly, he entered the office with Chloe in tow. "Mr. Luthor, I'm Miss Mims, the counselor. Would you come in?" The counselor – Lex looked at Chloe and knew it was either she was gifted or in trouble. There was never too much gray area with these meetings. "Please have a seat?"

"When can we see Lindsay?"

"Sir, she will be in a little bit. I just wanted to let you know what happened today and see if we can find a way to keep it from occurring again. As you know today was the first day and all the students are fairly new. Since Lindsay didn't attend Kinder here, she has had initial issues with making friends."

The counselor paused in order for Lex and Chloe to take in the statement. Lindsay had been in a play group and been on outings with other children with the nanny. How could she not make friends? "I'm confused. You think because she isn't socializing on the first day, we needed to come down here?" Chloe tapped him slightly on the top of the hand to calm his nerves.

"Miss Mims, Lindsay is a product of Lex and me. Neither of us were exactly poster children for perfect school or social relationships. We both were intrinsically introverted – maybe you need to give her time before making a judgment call." The woman nodded in response to the comment.

Opening up her door, she turned back to the both of them, "I don't think you quite get the gravity of what I'm saying." She leaned around the corner. "Lindsay, will please come in?"

Lex and Chloe watched as Lindsay confidently strolled in. They both leaned over the side of their chairs put a hand out. "What happened?"

Lex looked her up and down. The very expensive dress she had picked out against Chloe's wishes for the first day was covered in dirt and her knees were bandaged. She had knots in her strawberry blonde hair and was missing her bow. She still had what Lex could only imagine was dirt on the side of her neck. He took her in his lap and inspected the large bandage that covered her knee and the smaller scratch not covered by anything.

"Mr. Luthor." Lex pointed at the woman and signaled her to close her mouth.

"Lindsay, what happened?" Chloe leaned in where she could hear her daughter as she tried to detangle some of the ruffled curls.

After taking a deep breath and flattening out the wrinkles in her dirty dress, she smiled at Lex and leaned her head against his shoulder. Lex lifted her head off and stared at her. "No, don't play that game – what happened?"

Lindsay looked at the ground and spoke quietly as she pouted between her words. Lex could see her eyes welling up with tears. "I was on the playground and this boy with almost white hair, not pretty like mommy's pushed me. I told him to go away and he pushed me again. I asked what was wrong with him and he said that his father said I was a snot and stuck up with a big ego like my dad. I got mad at him and I punched him just like we do at home with the punching bag. He got up, told me that you looked like Mr. Clean and pushed me so I tripped him and punched him again. He got my dress dirty. I'm sorry." She batted her eyes at her father like she had seen mom do when she wanted something.

Lex looked at Chloe stunned. He took Lindsay's hand and glanced at the counselor. "Who was the boy?"

"I don't know. Are you mad? I won." Chloe leaned and eyed Lindsay.

"Honey, that was not the right thing to do. If you were being bullied, you have to tell an adult. Just because daddy lets you play at home doesn't mean you are supposed to be doing it here." Chloe turned back to Lex, who had looked at Miss Mims.

"How's the boy? And can you tell me who it is? I want to make amends and make sure that nothing like this happens again." Miss Mims shook her head, hoping that Lex and Chloe were good enough parents to take care of it. Lindsay was only six but obviously already carried some baggage of just being from that family. She halfway smiled at the little girl's obvious love for her parents and defense of his honor, but she needed to learn some tact. Something that obviously was lost in translation in the Luthor household.

"The boy's parents are on the way here right now. The boy has a pretty busted up lip. Both children I hope you understand are suspended for 3 days. Even at the young age, we have to set examples." Lex shook his head and looked at Chloe who nodded in disgrace.

The woman continued. "He is in second grade and came to us new here as well. His parents recently moved back here from out of country. His name is," the woman stated while she shuffled and read the incident report. "Marcus Queen."

Lex looked at Chloe and rolled his eyes, having a hard time holding back the laughter that was bellying up inside of him. He took Chloe's hand in one and Lindsay's in the other and stood up. "Miss Mims, you won't have this problem again. Tell Mr Queen I'll call him later and we can get this all worked out, hopefully."

Miss Mims opened the door and watched as Lex followed behind his women. Leaving the school, Lex, Chloe, and Lindsay passed Oliver, Teresea, and Marcus Queen.

"Lex, amazing coincidence isn't it? It used to be us in those offices." Oliver stopped as he held his son's hand tightly. Lex watched the obvious pull back, and Chloe gripped Lindsay's hand tighter as well.

Oliver looked down at his son and watched as his lip started bleeding again but noticed something else. Lex watched amused as Teresea did nothing but hold his arm as Marcus stuck his tongue out and made faces at Lindsay. Lex looked in Lindsay's direction and pointed at her.

"But he –" Lindsay crossed her arms and pouted, not being able to return the gesture.

"You seem to really have a reign on her Lex. Marcus has been, well me, so far this year." Lex wasn't amused. "From what he says, Lindsay's got a mean left hook like dad though." Lex and Chloe's eyes both widened at the admission that Lindsay actually won the battle. Looking down at the kids, they all chuckled.

"We'll see if we can get them past the pettiness we always had and try to not screw them up as bad as we were." Lex tried to joke but it came out like a true statement.

Oliver extended a hand and motioned for Lex to give in. He shook his hand as they smiled at their respected children. "True. I'll give you call later this week and see if can mend some fences ourselves, you know, just in case our kids turn this into a Romeo and Juliet, we don't want to be the Montague's and Capulet's."

Chloe smiled and gripped Lex's arm as he broke almost a smile to return to Oliver. Many things had happened between the two men over the past but they had stayed fairly unaffected by each other's presence as of late since the Queen's had been out of the country. Lex had a since of déjà vu.

Buckling Lindsay's seatbelt, Lex leaned in the car to look at her. "We're going to have a long talk when we get home." Lindsay's head sank as Chloe got in the car with her. He kissed her and smiled. "I'll see you at home later, and I better see you in your room."

Lindsay lifted her head up and a tear fell down her face. "I'm so sorry, but you said revenge is … I can't remember." Chloe shot Lex a glance that spoke volumes, like him sleeping on the couch. He halfway giggled at his daughter.

"Maybe you shouldn't listen to everything dad says. We'll talk at home."

He watched as Chloe pulled out of the drive with Lindsay and held his head in mild frustration and amusement. "Revenge is profitable," he muttered to himself. "I might need to explain profitable now that she knows revenge." He laughed and got in his car.


End file.
